Many direct-to-home satellite television systems, such as the DirecTV system, may be configured to receive signals from more than one satellite (e.g., satellite location or satellite type) and/or other source of programming. When only one such signal is used, an integrated receiver/decoder (IRD) in the user's home may be connected directly to a low noise block (LNB) of a receiving dish to receive signals from that source, e.g., satellite, location. When more than one such signal is used, a multi-switch device may be used to enable the IRD to access one of many sources (e.g., LNB inputs) independently, such that only the selected signal or source is supplied to the input of the IRD.
Such multi-switches and their functions are well known. In general, a multi-switch provides a matrix switch or signal router, which connects at least one output to a selected one of a plurality of inputs. The inputs may be connected to different signal sources (e.g., different LNB outputs) and at least one output connected to the input of a receiver (e.g., IRD). The switch may then be controlled by means of a control signal to selectively route the desired signal to the receiver. The control signal is typically generated by the receiver and supplied to the multi-switch, typically using the source coaxial connection between the multi-switch and receiver that carries the higher frequency (e.g., L-band) received signals.
Due to the availability of multi-switches from more than one manufacturer and the changes to multi-switches as technology advances, more than one type of multi-switch is available. Different types of multi-switches are controlled by different control signals. Accordingly, the receiver software must know which type of multi-switch is connected to the receiver in order to provide the proper control signals when addressing the multi-switch. One way to provide such information to the receiver is to have the user enter the type of multi-switch via a user interface control on the receiver.
However, requiring the user to provide the multi-switch type to the receiver has certain drawbacks. First, the multi-switch may be physically inaccessible to the customer. For example, in a multi-dwelling environment, such as an apartment building, the multi-switch may be part of the building infrastructure. In such an instance, the customer may not be able to determine the type of multi-switch employed. In addition, customers are burdened by extra setup procedures. Often theses setup procedures require the user to read a portion of a users manual, and if the procedure is not followed correctly, the system may not function properly.